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Valley Medical Center is Ranked #1 in WA and Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Overall Orthopedic Services

HealthGrades Study Finds Patients Treated at 5-Star Hospitals are 80% Less Likely to Experience a Major Complication

10/21/2010

Author: Valley Medical Center

HealthGrades’ annual study released yesterday ranks Overall Orthopedic Services, Joint Replacement Surgery and Spine Surgery at Valley Medical Center (VMC) among the best in the nation for superior patient outcomes. HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent ratings organization, evaluates patient outcomes for 5,000 hospitals. This research is the only comprehensive analysis based solely on patient mortality and complication rates.

In achieving this level of clinical performance VMC was named a recipient of three HealthGrades Specialty Excellence Awards for Orthopedic Surgery, Joint Replacement and Spine Surgery. Specialty Excellence Awards are designated for hospitals performing in the top 10% nationwide for clinical excellence in various service lines and sub-specialties. Additionally, on a statewide basis, VMC was ranked #1 in WA for Overall Orthopedic Services and Joint Replacement.

“We could not be more pleased or more proud of the recognition earned by our orthopedic services, joint replacement and spine surgery,” said Rich Roodman, Valley Medical Center CEO. “The surgeons and staff who provide these services are top notch and it’s great to see them collectively get the credit they deserve.”

The public is demanding increased public reporting of quality measures, and recent government reform efforts support this call to action. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 40% of adults report that they believe there are major differences in hospital quality in their immediate geography. Additionally, since 1996, the number of consumers that indicated they would choose a hospital based on a high quality rating over familiarity has increased to 72% from 59%.

Valley Medical Center has developed a long standing history of superior clinical excellence and patient outcomes in orthopedic services, and is pleased to report that it has again achieved a significant number of top ratings, ranking and specialty excellence awards from HealthGrades in 2011 including:

Recipient of the Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award™ in 2011

Recipient of the Joint Replacement Excellence Award™ For 2 Years in a Row (2010-2011)

Recipient of the Spine Surgery Excellence Award™ in 2011

Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Joint Replacement For 2 Years in a Row (2010-2011)

Ranked Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Overall Orthopedic Services in 2011

Ranked Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Spine Surgery in 2011

Ranked #1 in WA for Overall Orthopedic Services in 2011

Ranked #1 in WA for Joint Replacement For 2 Years in a Row (2010-2011)

Ranked Among the Top 5 in WA for Overall Orthopedic Services For 9 Years in a Row (2003-2011)

Ranked Among the Top 10 in WA for Joint Replacement For 8 Years in a Row (2004-2011)

Ranked Among the Top 10 in WA for Spine Surgery For 6 Years in a Row (2006-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Overall Orthopedic Services For 2 Years in a Row (2010-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Joint Replacement For 8 Years in a Row (2004-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Spine Surgery For 6 Years in a Row (2006-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Total Knee Replacement For 8 Years in a Row (2004-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Total Hip Replacement For 2 Years in a Row (2010-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Back and Neck Surgery (except Spinal Fusion) For 9 Years in a Row (2003-2011)

Five-Star Rated for Back and Neck Surgery (Spinal Fusion) in 2011

The HealthGrades study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes in nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. Among the findings related to inhospital complications in this year’s study are:

Across all procedures in which complications were studied, there was an 80% lower chance of experiencing one or more complications in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital.

Across all procedures studied, there was a 63% lower chance of experiencing one or more inhospital complications in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.

If all hospitals performed at the level of a 5-star rated hospital, 185,875 inhospital complications may have been avoided among Medicare patients over the three years studied.

The new 2011 HealthGrades hospital ratings were posted today and are free to the public at www.healthgrades.com.

HealthGrades’ Hospital Quality Ratings

HealthGrades’ hospital ratings and awards reflect the track record of patient outcomes at hospitals in the form of mortality and complication rates. HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 26 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for equal comparisons.

More information on the Thirteenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.